Lamp



Feb. 23, 1932. o. c. Rl-r woLL -Ea 1,846,6 7

LAMP

Filed Feb. 23, 1926 INVEN TOR.

A TTORNEY5 WIM Patented Feb. 23, 1932 UNITED STATEd PATENT OFFIE OLIVER C. BITZ WOLLER, OF CHICAGO, ILILINOIS LAM Application filed February 23, 1926. Serial No. 89,961.

My invention relates to lamps and particularly to electric automobile lamps. In a lamp of this type, it is important that provision be made for holding the parts in tight engagement with each other so as to prevent rattling, while at the same time it is important that the various parts shall be detachably connected together so far as necessary for providing access to the interior of the lamp and for making replacements of parts as may be parts may be effected easily and quickly and with a minimum of danger of dropping the fragile parts. To this end, it is one of the ob jects of my invention to provide an improved arrangement of structure in the form of detachable units in which the removable parts are preferably held in position momentarily by friction during the assembly, being tightened into operative relationship by the assembly of the units to form the complete lamp.

It is another object of my invention to im prove devices of this type in sundry details hereinafter pointed out. The preferred means by which I have accomplished my sev eral objects are illustrated in the drawings and are hereinafter specifically described. What I desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the claims.

In the drawings Fig. l is a front face view of my improved lamp.

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section taken substantially at the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear view 011 an enlarged scale of the front unit of my improved lamp, being partly broken away ata number of points.

Fig. 4 is a central vertical section taken at line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the supporting members for the light bulbs, showing a bulb in position therein; and

Fig. 6 is a front view of a fragmentary portion of the rear unit of my lamp.

Referring to the several figures of the drawings,10 indicates a casing member formed of sheet metal and adapted to be secured upon an automobile by any suitable means not.

shown. The front end of the casing member 10 is closed by means of a second casing member 11 also made of sheet metal and comprising a plate forming the front face of the lamp and a flange substantially at right angles to the plate, the member 11 being of a size and shape to fit snugly about the casing member 10, the two casing members being held in such telescopic arrangement by a plurality of screws 12.

The front casing member 11 is provided with a plurality of openings in its front plate portion, within which openings are mounted lenses 13, 14 and 15. The lenses are preferably held in position in the openings in the member 11 by means of outwardly extending flange portions 16. As will be readily understood, when the casing member 11 is held in position with its front face disposed downwardly, the lenses 13, 14 and 15 may readily be placed in position in the respective openings. A retainer plate 17 is then placed in position upon the lenses for holding them in position, such retainer plate being provided with a flange about its periphery which is adapted to have a frictional fit within the flange of the casing member 11 so as to hold the casing member, the lenses and the re- 1 tainer plate detachably connected as a unit. The retainer plate 17 is provided with openings 18 directly opposite the openings in the casing member 11.

In my improved construction as illustrated, the light bulbs are removably mounted upon the retainer plate 17 in rear of the respective lenses. The means for mounting the bulbs in position comprises a plurality of supporting members 19 formed of sheet metal pressed into the shape of cups, the inner faces of the members being polished so as to serve as reflectors and being preferably of parabolic form. The reflectors are removably mounted in position upon the retainer plate 17 by means of lugs formed upon the plate and upon the outer edges of the reflectors. The lugs upon each of the reflectors are in the form of a notched outwardlv extending flange 20, the parts of the flange on opposite sides of the notches comprising in elfect outwardly extending ribs. The lugs carried by the retainer plate 17 are preferably struck up from the face of the plate about the openings 18 so as to stand in slightly spaced relation in rear of the body of the plate, being indicated by the numeral 21. The lugs 21 carried by the plate 17 are arranged in spaced relation about the openings 18 corresponding in spacing to the breaks in the flange 20 of the reflectors so as to permit the several rib portions provided by the notched flange to be brought into engagement. with the lugs 21 by a suitable rotary movement of the reflectors 19, as will be readily understood. This lug and flange connection comprises in effect a bayonet joint connection between the reflector and the retainer plate, in that the assembly is effected by an axial movement of the reflector followed by a rotary movement.

Each of the reflectors 19 is provided with a rearwardly extending flange 22 within which a light bulb is slidabiy mounted, the flange 22 being broken away at opposite sides for permitting the passage of the usual radially extending pins 24 carried by the bulb. As is best shown in Fig. 5, the flange 22 is provided at each side of the break therein with rearwardly extending ears 25. The fit of the bulbs within the flanges 22 of the re flectors is preferably such that the bulbs are held frictionally in position in the flanges ith sufficient force for supporting the weight of the bulbs but is not to be so tight as to make the insertion or withdrawal of the bulb difiicult. lVhen the bulb has been turned in the socket for bringing the pins 24 into contact with the flange 22 between the ears 25, the bulb is adapted to remain normally in such adjusted position. This connection of the bulb with the reflector is also seen to be in effect a bayonet joint connection.

As is seen from an inspection of Figs. 2 and 3, a different means is provided for mounting the bulb 23 in position in rear of the lens 1 T. This means comprises a supporting member in the form of a bracket comprising a cross bar 26 and legs 2'7, the legs 27 being secured bv rivets or in anv other suitable manner to the rear face of the retainer plate 17. The bracket 27 is also formed of sheet metal, being provided with a notched flange 28 corresponding with the flange 22 of the reflectors 19 above described. By the use of this form of bracket, as distinguished from the brackets in the form of the reflectors 19, the light from the bulb 23 mounted in rear 0 l the lens 14; is permitted to pass downwardly through a glass 29 secured by means of brackets 30 in a suitable opening in the bottom portion of the casing member 10.

By the use of the means above described, the several lenses and bulbs are removably mounted within the bezel or casing member 11 so as to be readily accessible and readily removable for replacement as may be necessary. Any one of the bulbs can be replaced without the removal of the corresponding lens, and the lenses can be removed and replaced without disturbing the bulbs from their position.

The means for conducting current to the several bulbs is mounted upon the cas ng member 10. This means comprises a sheet of fiber 31 on the inner face of the rear plate of thecasing member 10, a plate of insulating material 32 in front of the sheet of fiber 31, and a plurality of spring contact members 33 secured by means of bolts 34 upon the plate 32. The bolts 34 also serve for connecting the 1 ends of the wires 35 to the several spring contact members. Other bolts 36 passing through the plate 32 and through the rear face of the casing member 10 serve to hold the parts in position with respect to the casing. The contact members 33 for the bulbs mounted in rear of the lenses 13 and 15 are substantially straight so as to press with considerable force upon the rear ends of the bulbs in the reflectors 19, serving to hold the pins 2% in contact with the flanges 22, and serving to press the reflectors into snug engagement with the rear face of the retainer plate 17. The contact member for the bulb mounted in rear of the lens 14 is doubled backwardly upon itself so as to press upon the rear end of the bulb carried by the plate 26. The pressure of the spring contact members is such that the pins 24 of the bulbs are prevented from passing the ears 25 at opposite sides of the breaks in the flanges 22 and 28, serving thus to prevent accidentaldisplacement of the bulbs from the supporting means. The pressure is also such as to tension the train of connections between the contact members and the frame work comprising the casing members 10 and 11 so that the spring contact members are afforded good electrical connection through the lamps wi h the casing members.

While I prefer to employ the construction as illustrated in my drawings and as above described, it will be understood that I do not wish to limit my invention to the details of construction except as the same may be specifically claimed, inasmuch as it is evident that changes may well be made in the con struction without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a lamp, the combination of a casing member comprising a front plate and a backwardly extending flange thereon, a plate mounted in .said casing member and having sliding engagement with said flange so as normally to be held by friction against sliding movement therein, registering openings through said two plates, a lens in the opening in said front plate having a flange engaging between said two plates, lugs carried by said slidably mounted plate in rearwardly offset posit-ion with respect to the plate in spaced relation about the opening therein, and a cupshaped reflector removably mounted on the rear face of said slidably mounted plate by means of notched outwardly projecting flanges engaging said lugs, said reflector being provided at its rear end portion with means for removably supporting a light bulb in position therein.

2. In a lamp, the combination of a casing member comprising a rear plate and a forwardly turned'flange thereon, a plate removably secured on said casing member at its forward edge, a cup-shaped reflector mounted on the rear face of said removably secured plate in rear of an opening through said plate and held in position by inter-engaging lugs on said plate and said reflector arranged for ready sliding movement edgewise with respect to each other for detachment of the reflector, means comprising a pin and a slotted flange for removably supporting a light bulb from said reflector in centered position therein, and a spring contact member mounted on said casing member and insulated therefrom and positioned for bearing on the end contact of the bulb carried by the reflector serving to press such bulb and reflector forwardly for tightening the connection both i mechanically and electrically between the bulb and the reflector and between the reflector and the plate.

3. In a lamp, the combination of a casing member comprising a rear plate and a forwardly turned flange thereon, a plate removably secured on said casing member at its forward edge, a cup-shaped reflector, means for loosely and detachably mounting said re= flector on the rear face of said removably secured plate in rear of an opening through said plate, means for removably supporting a light bulb from said reflector in centered position therein, and a spring contact member mounted on said casing member and insulated therefrom and positioned for bearing on the end contact of the bulb carried by the reflector serving to press such bulb and reflector forwardly for tightening the connection both mechanically and electrically between the bulb and the reflector and be tween the reflector and the plate.

OLIVER C. RITZ WOLLER. 

